A database for integrated assessment of European agricultural systems

A major bottleneck for data-based policy making is that data sources are collected, managed, and distributed by different institutions, residing in different locations, resulting in conceptual and practical problems. The use of dispersed data for agricultural systems research requires the integratio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & policy 2009-08, Vol.12 (5), p.573-587
Main Authors: Janssen, Sander, Andersen, Erling, Athanasiadis, Ioannis N., van Ittersum, Martin K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural management
Agricultural systems
Agronomy
Assessments
Data analysis
Data and model integration
Data collection
Data sources
Database integration
environment
Europe
Farming
Farms
indicators
information
Methodology
Modelling
Policies
policy
Policy making
Systems analysis
water
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Summary:A major bottleneck for data-based policy making is that data sources are collected, managed, and distributed by different institutions, residing in different locations, resulting in conceptual and practical problems. The use of dispersed data for agricultural systems research requires the integration of data sources, which means to ensure consistency in data interpretations, units, spatial and temporal scales, to respect legal regulations of privacy, ownership and copyright, and to enable easy dissemination of data. This paper describes the SEAMLESS integrated database on European agricultural systems. It contains data on cropping patterns, production, farm structural data, soil and climate conditions, current agricultural management and policy information. To arrive at one integrated database, a shared ontology was developed according to a collaborative process, which facilitates interdisciplinary research. The paper details this process, which can be re-used in other research projects for integrating data sources.
ISSN:1462-9011
1873-6416
DOI:10.1016/j.envsci.2009.01.007